AS Bersatu is a minority partner in Pakatan Harapan, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is seeking to shore up his political clout by bringing in familiar allies, the Straits Times reports.

Though PH has 121 seat in Parliament, Dr Mahathir’s Bersatu only has 13 of them, compared with PKR’s 48 and DAP’s 42. The other junior partner in PH is Amanah, with 11 seats, while Sabah ally Warisan has eight.    

This makes Dr Mahathir position unsteady and makes the PH governtment vulnerable if any disagreements deadlock the parties in the coalition.

To shore up his position, party insiders say Dr Mahathir is in talks with Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud, who has long-running personal ties with the prime minister. 

Insiders say Dr Mahathir and his close ally, Daim Zainuddin, want Taib to influence Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, who leads Barisan Nasional in the eastern state, to break ranks with BN and bring its 19 seat to PH. 

Sarawak BN is expected to discuss this next week. 

Dr Mahathir’s operatives are also believed to be courting senior Umno leaders to defect to PH. Perlis’ Shahidan Kassim is believed to be the likely figure to lead the exodus.  

Party insiders also say after Dr Mahathir announced the initial cabinet appointments, PKR was upset that the finance and home affairs portfolios went to DAP and Bersatu respectively, but this coul be ameliorated by awarding the party with other cabinet positions yet to be filled.

But there is growing  internal turmoil within Umno that could benefit PH. Political operatives say Umno dissidents loyal to Dr Mahathir might mount a legal bid to declare the party illegal for failing to hold party elections as required by it constitution.

An application in the High Court to declare Umno illegal was rejected in early April but this ruling will be challenged in the coming weeks.

Should this bid succeed, Bersatu will emerge to be party where former Umno leaders seek refuge in. – May 13, 2018.